Untitled Naruto Project
by madHATTERo0
Summary: AU Prologue: The Sandaime meets with his Jounin Commander to discuss the upcoming genin team assignments and the changes he's considering for the proposed squads.


**Author's Note: **For those who are reading my other stories and have been awaiting updates for what has now become years, I have not abandoned anything. I just jump around a lot from story to story, and I've been working on non-Naruto stuff for a while, but I'm finally back. This new project rather requires some audience participation, so if you like this and are interested in where it's headed, be sure to review and let me know what you'd like to see happen.

Here's how I'd like this to work: Because I plan stuff out ridiculously far ahead plotwise, I have a tendency to stop writing because I get bored with it. I know, shame on me. In an effort to prevent this, I am going to leave many decisions for where this story will go in the hands of the readers. Things to vote on will be listed at the end of chapters. Along with voting, I sincerely encourage reviewers to tell me where they think this story is headed based on what they read, where they would like the story to head, what they want to see happening in the next chapter or two. I ask this because as a reader, I often get frustrated with stories that head in odd directions, especially after I get hooked with the beginning of one. I want to experiment with a higher level of feedback and reader involvement to see where this will lead. Please help to make this story all that it can be!

**Disclaimer: **I claim no ownership to _Naruto_, manga or anime, and its characters.

**Prologue**

**Rethinking Expectations**

Sarutobi Hiruzen regarded the scroll in front of him with more trepidation than usual, which was rather a worrying amount considering the Third Hokage's general outlook on all things paperwork-related. His jounin commander Nara Shikaku was slouched in a chair across the desk from him, all traces of formality having been long since abandoned between the two when they were within the relative safety of the Hokage's office.

"Uchiha Sasuke is set to graduate with this next batch of genin, is he not?" Shikaku asked as his gaze settled on the faces depicted in the Hokage Monument easily visible through the large windows.

"Ah," Hiruzen sighed. "I'm afraid he's one of many reasons I've had difficulty organizing even a draft of squad assignments for you to review."

Shikaku rounded his half-lidded stare on the Hokage, and Hiruzen could easily detect the glint of calculation that betrayed the man's lazy posture. "I'm sure the members of the Council have had much to say regarding this class."

"Indeed they have," Hiruzen agreed with a chuckle that was too dry to denote amusement. "They've been quite insistent that Sasuke be placed under Kakashi, citing first and foremost the importance of training the last Uchiha in the uses of the Sharingan."

"They aren't concerned with Kakashi's disinterest in taking on a genin team? He's failed every cell he's been assigned since he retired from ANBU."

"They seem convinced that Kakashi can be persuaded to take on Sasuke as a student. They believe they can manipulate a favorable outcome of the situation given his residual guilt over the circumstances surrounding his obtaining the Sharingan in the first place."

Shikaku snorted. "Have you bothered to inform them that the only way that will happen is if they place Uzumaki on the same team?"

"If they can't be bothered to figure that out for themselves, I see no reason why I should enlighten them. I have been insinuating that I'm considering placing Naruto under Kakashi's command, though. Should that occur, they deem it acceptable to not interfere with Kakashi's record of failed squads."

Shikaku slid further down the seat of the chair, letting his head fall back comfortably to regard the ceiling. "With as much time and effort as he's put into looking after the kid and helping him to advance when the Academy instructors would just as soon ban him from class?"

Hiruzen felt a smirk tugging at the edges of his mouth and reached forward to straighten a precariously balanced pile of supply distribution forms. The sight of paperwork quickly sobered his mood back to expected level of professionalism. Even when only in the company of a trusted friend, a Hokage must be aware of his public image. "Again, it's their own oversight. They'll have to be responsible for correcting it."

"What about the other students?" Shikaku asked. "There's the standard Ino-Shika-Cho in the same group."

"Ah, yes. About that." Hiruzen paused, silently appraising the man before him to determine how best to address the subject of his and his teammates' children.

"You want to split them up, correct?" Hiruzen leant back in his chair and let his fingers drum once lightly against the armrest, the only outward appearance he gave of his shock at Shikaku's blunt response. "I can easily see the logic behind it, of course," Shikaku continued. "While our clan jutsus do compliment one another favorably, foreign shinobi are becoming a bit too familiar with our combination fighting styles."

"That was another of my concerns with this class, yes," Hiruzen admitted. "You've read through their instructors' notes on all the students. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Shikamaru needs to be with teammates who will motivate him into doing something. I'd say he could best benefit from a teammate who could challenge him intellectually, but even Uchiha, who is the top student, isn't even close to Shikamaru's level, unfortunately."

"I have a suspicion that one of his classmates might fit the bill for that, but it's only a slight suspicion as of now. Inoichi's daughter could certainly count as a motivator though, couldn't she?"

"True, but if your plan is to split up that cell, it might be best to put them all on separate teams."

"Yes, it might be. But then whom would you place him with? You said yourself that Sasuke isn't suitable. Indeed, I think putting them on the same team wouldn't benefit either of them. From Sasuke's psychological evaluations, I doubt he'd do well when confronted with Shikamaru's actual abilities."

"That kid's going to be in for a rude awakening no matter who you team him up with," Shikaku scoffed. "He's alternately too arrogant or too depressed to pay attention to his classmates. He has no idea what any of them are capable of, much less that a few of the students are already adept enough to realize that a shinobi should never reveal his full hand, even to his allies."

Hiruzen nodded, combing his fingers through his beard lightly. "I've been contemplating placing him under Kurenai. This is the first time she's been up for the position since she only became a jounin about a year ago."

"To augment the Sharingan's genjutsu abilities? Probably a good idea; even if you could convince Kakashi to train the kid, given Uchiha's attitude, I doubt Kakashi would be inclined to instruct him in more than just the basics and would avoid addressing his personal problems altogether. Kurenai's got the patience to put up with him, but also the temper and ability to stamp that attitude out of him."

"My thinking exactly," Hiruzen admitted with a small smile. "Given that, who else would you place on the team?"

"With Uchiha taking over the genjutsu aspects, a kunoichi wouldn't be strictly necessary. Unless you were thinking of the Hyuuga heiress. But Uchiha's also strong in taijutsu, so then you'd have two primarily short range hand-to-hand specialists. An assault squad, maybe?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of torture and interrogation, actually."

For all that Shikaku prided himself on anticipating every consequence of every possible decision, on following every last branch that splintered away from the trunk, he could honestly say that he'd never considered the Hokage's suggestion. "You want to start training the Uchiha and Hyuuga heirs for T&I? Uchiha might have the stomach for it, but the Hyuuga girl?"

"Their respective doujutsus would serve them well in that field."

"No doubt, but that doesn't mean that either of them is the type of person who drifts towards that line of work."

Propping his elbows on his desk, Hiruzen stapled his fingers together before interlacing them. "It's merely a suggestion. They will ultimately be the ones to decide which career paths they will follow. Ibiki has been dropping rather weighty hints that the department could use some new blood, and I think they're abilities would take them far within the Intelligence sectors."

"It's a possibility, certainly. Who would you have round that team out, though? Shikamaru's out since Uchiha's already on the team. Chouji doesn't have the patience or the penchant for subtlety to do well in that area. Inuzuka would be even worse in that situation. Uzumaki you're already set on assigning to Kakashi. The only other promising student in the bunch is Aburame, and he, like the rest of his clan, is much too introverted to do well in a field that requires shinobi to drag information out of unwilling targets."

"You don't think any of the other students have potential?" Hiruzen inquired with a raised brow.

"They're primarily civilian-bred brats. The only reason that Haruno girl is in the pool of serious candidates is because of her top grades. Even then, she's going to need a hell of a push to amount to more than a mediocre chunnin. There are a few kids from shinobi households, but none of them possess enough talent to compare to their parents at that age."

Hiruzen sighed as he opened a desk drawer and carefully removed his pipe to pack it with fresh tobacco. "Unfortunately I've come to much the same conclusions."

"Which brings us back to this proposed T&I team. I don't see any viable options to fill out the team unless…" Shikaku trailed off, eyeing Hiruzen guardedly. "Ino. If she's not on Shikamaru's team, you want to push her toward T&I. Understandable. The Yamanaka clan techniques are well suited for it, but the problem then becomes that you're placing Uchiha on a team with three kunoichi, nevermind that one of them is Kurenai."

"Would that be such an awful prospect?" Hiruzen paused to light his pipe. "Sasuke has exhibited some rather extreme issues with male authority figures. Probably a leftover influence from Fugaku's methods of instruction, as well as what happened between him and his brother. And his psychological profile reveals how easily he perceives males his age to be competitors rather than allies."

"He's hardly going to get any kind of maternal influence from the three you're placing him with, if that's what you were angling for."

Hiruzen exhaled a carefully controlled strand of wispy smoke. "As I said, this is all simply conjecture. The genin exam isn't until next week. Who's to say that those we're looking at will even make it that far?"

Shikaku leveled the Hokage with a look that quite accurately portrayed the chances of their candidate predictions proving false. "That still leaves five brats you've yet to find a place for, including Shikamaru."

Hiruzen hummed in agreement. "I did have a tentative assault squad in mind."

"Under Asuma?"

"Yes. I think he'd prove to be the most ideal instructor for such a team given the jounin who have standing requests for teams."

"Chouji then. Once he starts to incorporate more of his family's techniques into his combat styles, he'll be a strong asset."

"As well as Tsume's son. With him doubling as the team's tracker, they'd have a clear advantage when it comes to hunting down and ambushing targets."

"That kind of team would need a medic on hand eventually. An assault squad wouldn't be of much use if they were easily put out of commission."

"Which is why I was considering Sakura. While she hasn't exhibited much in the way of chakra capacity, according to the reports her control is exceptional, especially given her age and lack of concentrated training."

"And if she could build up her reserves and develop a strong taijutsu style, she could utilize her chakra control to become a powerhouse medic like Tsunade-sama did."

"Precisely."

Gripping the armrests of his chair, Shikaku pushed himself back into a respectiable seating position. "That leaves Shikamaru and Aburame on Kakashi's squad with Uzumaki."

"It does."

"Specializing in what?"

"Honestly? Whatever they chose. I could see them expertly managing infiltration, retrieval, tactical assault, assassination. Those three could prove very adaptable. And under Kakashi, who is rather a jack of all trades when he can be bothered to put his mind to it, I think they could one day rise to the very top."

Shikaku let his head fall back against the chair's headrest for a moment before rolling his neck to relax the tense muscles there. "You seem to have made up your mind already, yet you said you were having trouble with all this?"

"Some, yes."

"Ah. The same thing as usual then?"

Hiruzen merely raised an inquiring eyebrow in place of commenting aloud.

"Getting the Council to stand down and let you do the job your title entails," Shikaku explained with a smirk.

A surprised chuckle escaped Hiruzen, along with a sudden cloud of smoke from his pipe. "Yes," he easily agreed. "That would have to be it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **There's the prologue. Next chapter: Underneath the Underneath. Kakashi visits a classroom full of (mostly) ignorant academy brats.

**First vote:** Standard bell test for Kakashi's squad? Yea or nay.

**Second vote:** Would you like to read about the other teams' tests? If yes, anything in particular?

**Third vote: **Which team would you like to be assigned the disastrous Wave mission?

These votes probably won't come in to play for a few chapters yet, but if I know some stuff in advance, I can better plan out what will happen in the more immediate chapters.

Thanks for reading this far! Drop a review and let me know what you think.


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